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Memorial still missing 405 photos

 

As we approach Veteran’s Day, I would like to share two very important numbers — 58,276 and 405.

As of Memorial Day, 2019, there are 58,276 names on the national Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial’s Wall of Faces, honoring service members of the U.S. Armed Forces died in service in Vietnam or Southeast Asia or went unaccounted for during the war. 

A 1973 fire in St. Louis, Missouri, destroyed their military records, leaving no photos behind.

In 2013, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund set out to find the pictures to preserve their legacies and sacrifices. As of October 2019, only 405 names were still missing pictures.

Across the country, volunteers and organizations like the National Newspaper Association and the Newspaper Association Managers are helping see that we leave no one behind. 

Andrew Johnson is the publisher of the Dodge County Pioneer in Mayville, Wisconsin, and the immediate past president of the National Newspaper Association. As NNA president, Johnson led the charge to find more than 15,000 missing pictures.

“One of the greatest ways we can honor veterans is to recognize their work and sacrifice,” he said.  

Johnson speaks from experience, as his own son, 1st Lt. David A. Johnson was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2012. That made the cause extremely personal for him, and he is thrilled at how close the project now is to being completed. 

“Let’s finish this project for Veteran’s Day for our nation’s Vietnam heroes,” he said.

The VVMF needs your help to find the last 405 missing photos. 

Share the VVMF’s story and the veterans’ names. We need to find family or friends of these fallen soldiers to get their picture and give them the honor they deserve.

You can search for the names yourself by going to www.vvmf.org/missing-photos. You can also upload photos there.

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